Charita Goshay: Different disasters, different responses

Watching as the Southern California wildfires drive more than 1 million people from their homes, it’s hard not to think of the mess that remains in New Orleans.

Charita Goshay

Watching as the Southern California wildfires drive more than 1 million people from their homes, it’s hard not to think of the mess that remains in New Orleans.

What a difference a disaster makes.

As clowns entertain children and masseurs and deejays offer their services at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, fire evacuees are telling reporters that they have more food and water than they need. All the toilets work, and even pets have their own shelter.

No corpses in wheelchairs this time.

Stung by FEMA’s colossal incompetence and mismanagement in the Gulf, President Bush has responded with the zeal of a convert. His decisiveness, and an early warning system, have helped to avert what could have been an unmitigated loss of life.

Big Kahuna

Is Bush’s newfound decisiveness a matter of compassionate conservatism, or just good politics? Well, both. California is a Big Kahuna, politically and economically. A disaster of such scale is always rife with political overtones, which is why Kathleen Blanco no longer is governor of Louisiana.

The re-election of Ray Nagin -- courtesy of his playing the race card – is part of the reason why New Orleans, unlike some other parts of the Gulf, remains in a ditch.

But let’s not be naive. Even in disaster, cash, class, and yes, even race, influences how people are treated. In San Diego County, 66 percent of its 520,000 residents are white, and one in four households earns more than $100,000 a year. In New Orleans, 72 percent of its 500,000 residents are minorities, with more than 50 percent earning less than $30,000 a year.

If you think those numbers don’t matter, you’re kidding yourself.

Equally Deserving

Locally, when a tornado pancaked a neighborhood in Jackson Township, a home-improvement retailer dispatched trucks bearing building supplies, and armies of volunteers, including high school football players and Amish roofers, pitched in to make repairs and clear debris. Even Gov. Bob Taft made a guest appearance.

But a year later, when the Nimishillen Creek vaulted its banks, flooding the Cook Park neighborhood in northeast Canton, there were no retail convoys, no army of volunteers, no Taft. The residents, many elderly, almost all poor, were left more or less to fend for themselves. Some never fully recovered.

All were Stark Countians, equally deserving of help. Why such a difference?

That’s not to diminish this current disaster, which is monstrous. Thousands of people have lost everything, and at least seven are dead. Most are middle-class families who worked hard for what they have. However, the disparity in how people are treated speaks to how much work there is to be done.